The ruling came after attorneys for the Solano County Registrar of Voters and a Sacramento elections attorney on behalf of Vallejo resident Joel "Tom" Toler argued their positions in the Judge Scott L. Kays' courtroom. The hearing came on the heels of a request for a court order filed by Toler more than a week ago challenging a decision by Ira Rosenthal, the county's registrar of voters, who recently rejected Toler's bid to appear on the ballot.

As stated by Dennis Bunting, county counsel for Solano County, the registrar of voter's position is that to be eligible, one must have recent law enforcement experience, and it must have occurred in California.

Toler faced a similar issue in 2010 when he tried to run against then incumbent Sheriff Gary Stanton, only to be disqualified for not meeting the recent law enforcement requirement. He now claims to be eligible to run. Toler, according to court documents served as a police officer in the village of Jemez Springs, N.M. for two weeks in January.

"From our point of view (Toler) does not have full-time law enforcement experience in California and is not legally qualified for the office of the sheriff," Bunting said.

Toler also worked as a police officer in Vacaville and Winters in excess of four years back in the 1980s, according to court documents.

However, the registrar of voters rejected Toler's candidacy papers on the basis that he failed to show that he had "full-time, salaried law enforcement experience ... within the past five years," as a California peace officer.

The issue came down to a difference of opinion between the county and Toler's counsel, Sacramento election lawyer Brian T. Hildreth over an interpretation of the government code.

Bunting argued that the code section requires that a candidate's recent experience be in California if they wanted to run for sheriff in this state.

Hildreth argued otherwise, stating that it was not the case and that the code only required basic law enforcement experience within the required time period. He argued that the law, as it was being applied, discriminates against Toler, creating a scenario where elections officials were "keeping qualified candidates off the ballot."

Bunting characterized the move as misleading.

"They want this court to rewrite the statute," he said.

In his ruling, Kays wrote that he must interpret the statute by determining what the lawmakers intended. He declined to consider declarations filed by Toler regarding the intent of the sponsors of the legislation.

"After consideration of the matters judicially noticed, and all admissible evidence offered by petitioner, the court finds that petitioner has not established his qualifications for the office of sheriff," Kays wrote.

Toler's attorney said that they will appeal Kays' decision.

Reached by telephone later, Tolder said he was "disappointed" for the voters in the community. "I think it's a loss for the voters not to have a choice," he said.

Toler, also, vowed to appeal by 10 a.m. today, saying he wants to stop the printing of ballots -- scheduled to begin after the close of business Friday -- until his challenge is resolved.

"I'm anxious to see if the appellate court agrees with the local judge, the hometown judge," Toler said.